The Eternal Night War
The Eternal Night War was the climactic battle in the series finale of Trollhunters and the Part One finale of 3Below. History Prelude Backstory Centuries ago, Merlin's evil apprentice, Morgana, plotted world domination and sowed the seeds of conflict between humans and trollkind, causing chaos and bloodshed planted within the two worlds, resulting in the birth of Gunmar. At some point, she realized that she cannot use evil trolls like Gunmar to conquer the world so long as their vulnerability to the sun remained in play. Deciding to remove that weakness, Morgana devised a dark spell called the Eternal Night that would permanently block out the sun, ensuring that the Gumm-Gumms could conquer without fear of turning to stone. Later on, she prophesied to Gunmar that he would usher in the Eternal Night, promising it would be the time when trollkind would reclaim the surface from humanity, which he used to rally sympathetic trolls to his cause. Merlin resolved to give the good trolls a champion who would forever be a bane to the Gumm-Gumms. Somehow, he managed to take Morgana's left hand and used it to craft the Amulet of Daylight, beginning the line of powerful champions called Trollhunters. This caused Morgana to develop intense hatred for her former master, as well as his Trollhunters and everything related to Merlin. When Angor Rot came to Morgana to bargain for magic to protect his village against Gunmar, the witch double-crossed him, imbuing him with magic, but cursing him to be forever bound to her service through the Inferna Copula, and tasked him to forever hunt and slay the Trollhunters. Ultimately, the Eternal Night never came to pass at the Battle of Killahead Bridge. While Deya the Deliverer banished Gunmar and his Gumm-Gumms to the Darklands, Merlin battled Morgana in a nearby glade, and managed to imprison her in a Heartstone chamber underneath what would be called Arcadia Oaks, expending nearly all his power in the process. Merlin then retreated to his tomb to go into a deep slumber until the time came when he would be needed again. Despite her body being imprisoned, Morgana's spirit remained fully awake and plotted to free herself so she could begin the Eternal Night. For centuries, she guided the decisions of the Janus Order to reassemble the Killahead Bridge and free Gunmar. Chain of Events In 2016, Gunmar's escape was averted by Draal the Deadly, who managed to rip the amulet from the bridge at the cost of his left arm. The first human Trollhunter, Jim Lake Jr., then managed to slay Gunmar's son, Bular. It was at the same time that Jim declared himself and his friends collectively as the Trollhunters. The pieces of Killahead Bridge were then stored in Trollmarket to keep safe from the Janus Order. Despite the Trollhunters' victory, Jim was determined to go into the Darklands to rescue the Changeling familiars, including Claire Nuñez's brother Enrique. The council of past Trollhunters told him that the only way to escape the Darklands alive was to kill Gunmar, which they believed to be impossible, as the Sword of Daylight was not sufficient enough to kill him. However, Jim and his friends began seeking out the Triumbric Stones to achieve that goal. Unfortunately, their quest was met with difficulty as Stricklander awakened Angor Rot to kill Jim. Though the Trollhunters managed to assemble the stones and kill Angor, their victory was not without cost, as AAARRRGGHH!!! was petrified by Creeper's Sun poison. A guilt-ridden Jim then decided to go into the Darklands alone, not wanting any of his friends to die on his behalf. The Fall of Trollmarket Two weeks following Jim's expedition into the Darklands, the Troll Tribunal made the decision to demolish the bridge to prevent Gunmar's escape. Despite the Trollhunters' best efforts, only Enrique managed to pass through the bridge before it collapsed, resulting in Jim being captured. However, hope was not lost, as the Trollhunters' council cryptically told Jim's friends to resurrect AAARRRGGHH!!! in order to rescue Jim. Blinky's research determined that Creeper's Sun poison was created by the Janus Order. The Tribunal then made the decision to dispose of the bridge in a cargo container into the ocean. Claire and NotEnrique secretly use her Shadow Staff to recover the pieces and hid them in a forest outside Arcadia. Meanwhile, Jim was spared execution as Dictatious Galadrigal convinced Gunmar that his friends would attempt a rescue, thus giving the Skullcrusher another opportunity to escape the Darklands. Thus, he subjected Jim to gladiator battle in an effort to break his will so he could be dominated by his Decimaar Blade. However, Jim's hope for rescue, as well as developing a bond with Nomura, enabled him to hold out. Back in Arcadia, after a failed attempt to tail Otto Scaarbach to the Janus Order, they inadvertently stumbled onto the Order's headquarters after Toby's new headgear picked up on their transmissions. Despite the Trollhunters being caught by Scaarbach, he was ordered by Morgana to trade the cure for Creeper's Sun in exchange for Vendel's Heartstone staff. Toby then stole the staff for the cure recipe, enabling them to revive AAARRRGGHH!!! AAARRRGGHH!!! was then summoned to the Void Between Worlds, allowing Kanjigar to possess and return to Trollmarket, where he led the Trollhunters to escape arrest by Vendel. Arriving at the bridge, he explained he had a vision of them rescuing Jim but in order to succeed, they had to enter the Darklands with nothing but the tools he provided and specific instructions to save only Jim. Sadly, while they succeeded in rescuing Jim, Toby failed to stop him from going back for Nomura and Draal abandoned his post guarding the bridge to save his friends, allowing Gunmar and Dictatious to escape while the rest of the Gumm-Gumm Army was left trapped in the Darklands. Afterwards, the Trollhunters disposed of the Killahead Bridge pieces. While Team Trollhunters remained ignorant of Gunmar's escape, the Skullcrusher met up with the Janus Order, who gifted Vendel's staff to restore a portion of his strength, which had diminished during his exile. Gunmar desired to fully consume Trollmarket's Heartstone but could not open attack with Jim defending it. Upstaging Dictatious as Gunmar's counsel, Scaarbach told him the Janus Order had a spy in Trollmarket who was in position to dispose of the Trollhunter. Dictatious later won back Gunmar's favor after learning that Morgana had ceased communications with the Janus Order, allowing him to masquerade as her prophet. Meanwhile, Jim began to suspect Gunmar's escape after Blood Goblins and a Gruesome turned up in Arcadia. He soon had his proof after Gunmar dominated Draal. However, before the Trollhunters could act on it, Queen Usurna had Jim arrested for treason. While Toby acted as Jim's attorney, Blinky and Claire investigate the possibility of a spy in Trollmarket. Their investigation led them to a Changeling named Krax, who was unfortunately killed by a Dwärkstone. After they informed Vendel, he meets with Usurna, who then kills him with Creeper's Sun, revealing herself as Krax's master and Gunmar's ally who really helped him escape. Without Vendel's testimony, Jim is sentenced to the Deep. However, Jim managed to escape the Deep and reunited with his friends just as they discover Usurna's role in Vendel's death and her responsibility of Gunmar's escape. Suspecting Gunmar to be hiding at the Janus Order, they find the Changelings massacred by the Skullcrusher. They engage in a brief fight before discovering "Gunmar" to be Scaarbach; the whole fight was a distraction to lure Jim away from Trollmarket, allowing Gunmar to enter Trollmarket and use his Decimaar Blade to convert its citizens into Gumm-Gumms before feeding on the Heartstone to regain his full strength. The Trollhunters managed to covertly evacuate the free trolls through use of the Gyre to the forests; they also required the aid of the Creepslayerz providing umbrellas to shield the trolls from the sunlight. Unfortunately, Usurna and Dictatious discovered their actions and cornered them at the Gyre station. Despite Blinky's warnings that conjuring a large portal would corrupt her soul, Claire did it anyway, though all the Trollhunters and NotEnrique held onto the Shadow Staff to share the burden. Afterwards, Blinky reluctantly agreed to become leader of the free trolls in Vendel's place. Morgana's Return For weeks, Gunmar dispatches scouts into Arcadia to track down the free trolls, but the Trollhunters intercepted every one. Furthermore, they had set up a measure of security for the oblivious citizens in the form of protective signs laced with geomancy as a Gumm-Gumm deterrent. Growing weary with the stalemate, AAARRRGGHH!!! decided to infiltrate Trollmarket disguised as a Gumm-Gumm and spied on Gunmar refusing his advisors' counsel to focus on raiding the surface for weapons of mass destruction, knowing that the humans have the advantage in daylight and was impatiently awaiting a sign from Morgana on how to begin the Eternal Night. Usurna secretly knew of Dictatious' fraudulence but kept her silence, believing the two of them needed to keep Gunmar focused on world conquest rather than on a superstition, otherwise they'd both be executed. Unbeknownst to Claire, in conjuring the giant portal, she had inadvertently bound herself to Morgana, enabling the Pale Lady to use her like a puppet. Deciding to set her plans in motion to regain her freedom and initiate the Eternal Night, she had Claire retrieve Angor Rot's head and bring it to her shrine in Bulgaria, planning on resurrecting her champion. Later on, she used Claire to steal the signs protecting the warehouse the free trolls were using as a hideout, forcing them to decentralize in any hiding spot they could find in Arcadia. Around the same time, Morgana made her presence known to Dictatious through the phonograph she used to communicate with the Janus Order. When he told a disbelieving Usurna, her mocking use of Morgana's name caused the Eldritch Queen to speak to her, prompting a disturbed Usurna to dispose of it. Nonetheless, Morgana communicates with Gunmar by animating a book in Blinky's library, showing him where to find her shrine, where Claire presented him with Angor's head. Upon the Skullcrusher's return to Trollmarket, he revealed Dictatious' fraudulence, having been informed by Morgana herself, and attempted to execute him, only for AAARRRGGHH!!! to intervene. The pair later spy on Gunmar, learning of his plans to resurrect Angor Rot. AAARRRGGHH!!! provided a distraction to allow Dictatious to escape to warn Blinky but ended up captured in the process. Morgana eventually decided to possess Claire directly to kill Jim. When her attempts failed and she made herself known to the Trollhunter, she attempted to banish him to the Shadow Realm, only to be stopped by NotEnrique. With Strickler's aid, they determine that Claire's spirit was trapped in the Shadow Realm, so Jim and Toby go in to rescue her. Despite Morgana's attempts to trap them there, Claire managed to get in her mind and severed her connection to the Shadow Staff before regaining her body. Gunmar took a captive AAARRRGGHH!!! and a brainwashed Draal to the Aysa-Thoon, where Morgana's spirit resurrected Angor, restoring his soul with a portion of her own. After Gunmar retrieved the Staff of Avalon from Merlin's Tomb, Gunmar used Strickler to active the staff and release Morgana from her nearly millennium long imprisonment within the Heartstone of Trollmarket. Meanwhile, Merlin transforms Jim into a half-troll to increase his abilities and better out-duel Gunmar and Angor Rot. While Jim struggles to accept his new form, Morgana puts her plans to bring forth the Eternal Night into motion. The Eternal Night Falls Omen's Arrival Participants Good Trollhunters * AAARRRGGHH!!! * Angor Rot (in the last minute) * Blinky Galadrigal (second-in-command) * Claire Nuñez * Gnome Chompsky * Jim Lake Jr. (leader) * Merlin * NotEnrique * Nomura * Stricklander * Toby Domzalski House Tarron * Aja Tarron (leader) * Buster * Krel Tarron (second-in-command) * Luug * Stuart * Varvatos Vex * Zadra Troopers * Bagdwella * Coach Lawrence (briefly) * Douxie * Eli Pepperjack * Glug * Good Trolls ** Kruberas ** Quagawumps ** River Trolls * Lenora Janeth (briefly) * Past Trollhunters * Señor Uhl (briefly) * Steve Palchuk Evil Gumm-Gumms * Angor Rot (defected) * Gunmar (second-in-command) * Morgana (leader) Omen Project * Dadblank (reprogrammed) * General Morando (leader) * Momblank (reprogrammed) * Mothership (reprogrammed) * Omen (second-in-command) * Zeron Alpha Troopers * Blank Robots (reprogrammed) * Goblins * Gumm-Gumms * Nyalagroths * Stalklings Aftermath(s) Trollhunters * All of the Arcadia Oaks residents learn about the existence of the supernatural. * Gunmar is slain by Jim, officially ending his millennia-year-old war. * The last of the Gumm-Gumms in Arcadia are eradicated. * Angor Rot betrays Morgana, but is ultimately killed by the witch after he was mortally wounded by Jim and tries to help Claire trap her in the Shadow Realm. * Jim's Eclipse Blade is destroyed by Morgana when he tries to stab her (Merlin later rebuilds it afterwards). * Claire's Shadow Staff is destroyed by Toby. * Morgana is banished into the Shadow Realm, losing all of Merlin's magic she took from him. * Merlin regains his magic and manages to subside the Eternal Night. * The Heartstone underneath Arcadia is dead, along with Heartstone Trollmarket. * The Darklands is crumbled into bits. * NotEnrique and Gnome Chompsky (armed with a Cradlestone) saves all of the Changeling Familiars from the Darklands, trapping the other Changelings in their troll forms forever. * Barbara and Strickler are tasked to raise the Changeling Familiars. * Half of Team Trollhunters (Jim, Claire, Blinky, and NotEnrique will later [[Mother's Day|return to Arcadia]], along with Merlin and Nomura) venture with the other trolls to find a new Heartstone in New Jersey. * The other half of Team Trollhunters (Toby, AAARRRGGHH!!!, and Gnome Chompsky, along with Stricklander and presumably Dictatious) remain in Arcadia to watch over the town. 3Below * Omen is destroyed by Aja and Krel. * Akiridion-5, inspired by Krel's speech, continues to fight back against Morando's tyranny and are more than determined to bring House Tarron back to the throne. * King Fialkov and Queen Coranda's life cores are placed back in their stasis chambers. * Varvatos is taken hostage by Zeron Alpha. * Zadra becomes the royal children's new guardian. * The Mothership and all of the House Tarron Blanks are rebooted, but the Mothership is severely damaged. * Aja and Krel remain on Earth for awhile longer. * Eli takes clean pictures of the Tarron siblings in their true forms. * Morando prepares to launch a full-scale invasion on Earth to kill the royal children himself. Trivia * Toby is the only Trollhunter whose magical weapon (his Warhammer) wasn't destroyed during the war, although Jim's sword is instantly rebuilt by Merlin in the end, whilst Claire is left weaponless. References # "The Eternal Knight: Part 1" # "The Eternal Knight: Part 2" # "Last Night on Earth" # "Bad Omen" Category:Events Category:Battles